On 13/07/13 04:12 AM, Ralf Mardorf wrote:
On Sat, 2013-07-13 at 04:04 -0400, Gary Dale wrote:However it's a lot easier to make multiple copies of a disc than it is to make multiple copies of a tape or hard disk drive.Duplicating by e.g. cp -pr hard_disk_1 hard_disk_2 IMO is easier and faster than split and burn a CD or DVD. A hard disk doesn't cost more than CDs and DVDs nowadays.
I said multiple copies.DVD media can be purchased in my neck of the woods for $10 per 50 pack, which is 225G for $10. BD-R goes for about $50 for a 50 pack, which is 240G for $10.
I can get a 500G drive for about $60, which is only 80G for $10. The 1T drives start at about $80 which is still only 125G per $10. Moreover, unless I have exactly 500G or 1T to archive, I'm wasting a lot of space, making the actual cost even higher.
Drives are subject to mechanical wear and electrical failure. They can fail even when not being used because bearings can stick, etc.. Drop one and it may become a paperweight.
I don't even trust HDs in my computer, which is why I only run RAID arrays. I'd never trust a single-spindle device for archiving. Optical media on the other hand is generally mechanically and chemically stable for decades.